In the beginning of 2009, what started out as a quest for a good crop of honey turned into a passion for honeybees. At the time, the importation of tainted honey from Asia was big in the news. Coincidentally, there was a growing public awareness of the recent devastating honeybee mortality (for reasons collectively dubbed "Colony Collapse Disorder" or "CCD"). This was the first inkling of a change in direction in my motivation for keeping bees. Very soon afterward, I saw a presentation on raising queen bees. This struck me as one way to be a sustainable beekeeper both logically and economically. A vision emerged and I founded Seola Bee Company with the support of my wife, Rachel Vaughn and sons Calvin and Lucas, and the encouragement of friends.
What started out as an endeavor for honey was turning into work to "push back the tide" that was assaulting the honeybee population in the U.S. There are many reasons for CCD, but there were two things I felt I could do differently for my bees: I could differ from commercial agricultural practices by not using chemical treatments and not controlling the genetic material in breeding practices.
I first tried raising my own queen bees in 2009 with little success. In 2010, I had more success and my number of colonies increased. By 2011, I was successfully raising my own stock selected from the strongest, gentlest queens. The goal is not only that they survive, but that they thrive in Seattle's wet environment and are gentle and good neighbors (especially good to have in an urban environment). If they are great honey producers, then even better!
Seola Bees demonstrate characteristics of survivability, gentleness and productivity. They are "mutts", for lack of a better word (likely of Italian and Carniolan races, but any other honeybee genetics that are in the area are part of the makeup). Unlike most commercial queens (which are artificially inseminated to control the genetics of the bees), ours are "open mated", which means the queens will take a mating flight to a Drone Congregation Area ("DCA" for short) and mate with 8-20 drones in a single flight. This gives the queen the best opportunity for the most diverse offspring that nature has to offer. Nature requires a sizable population of honeybees in order to create the diversity necessary, but the West Seattle area is full of beekeepers and probably many feral colonies in the many green spaces around. It is my belief that through this process over successive generations, the bees will strike a balance with the diseases and mites that plague them.
The mission of Seola Bee Company is to produce quality, locally adapted honeybees using sustainable practices. We are also committed to providing quality honeybee products and beekeeping services to beekeepers and community members in and around West Seattle.
What started out as an endeavor for honey was turning into work to "push back the tide" that was assaulting the honeybee population in the U.S. There are many reasons for CCD, but there were two things I felt I could do differently for my bees: I could differ from commercial agricultural practices by not using chemical treatments and not controlling the genetic material in breeding practices.
I first tried raising my own queen bees in 2009 with little success. In 2010, I had more success and my number of colonies increased. By 2011, I was successfully raising my own stock selected from the strongest, gentlest queens. The goal is not only that they survive, but that they thrive in Seattle's wet environment and are gentle and good neighbors (especially good to have in an urban environment). If they are great honey producers, then even better!
Seola Bees demonstrate characteristics of survivability, gentleness and productivity. They are "mutts", for lack of a better word (likely of Italian and Carniolan races, but any other honeybee genetics that are in the area are part of the makeup). Unlike most commercial queens (which are artificially inseminated to control the genetics of the bees), ours are "open mated", which means the queens will take a mating flight to a Drone Congregation Area ("DCA" for short) and mate with 8-20 drones in a single flight. This gives the queen the best opportunity for the most diverse offspring that nature has to offer. Nature requires a sizable population of honeybees in order to create the diversity necessary, but the West Seattle area is full of beekeepers and probably many feral colonies in the many green spaces around. It is my belief that through this process over successive generations, the bees will strike a balance with the diseases and mites that plague them.
The mission of Seola Bee Company is to produce quality, locally adapted honeybees using sustainable practices. We are also committed to providing quality honeybee products and beekeeping services to beekeepers and community members in and around West Seattle.
